Research

Clean Covers™ can offset the rising cost of paper products!
By Joan Rogers-Harrington, Research CMM Online

From the March 2000 edition of Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine. Over the past few years, the percent of an in-house cleaning operations cleaning budget spent on paper products has remained relatively constant.

Cleaning & Maintenance Management’s In-House Surveys since 1996 have shown in-house facility managers reported spending between 2.5 and 3.2 percent of their annual cleaning budget on paper products.

These figures could change drastically in the near future as pulp prices begin to rise, thereby increasing the cost of paper. In the last year, pulp prices have risen approximately 28 percent. Eventually, this cost will have to be passed along to the end-user.

According to the 1999 Cleaning & Maintenance Management In-House Survey, facilities spent an average of $33,800 on paper products, or 3.1 percent of their budget. An increase of 28 percent would mean facilities would spend more than $43,000 on paper, or 3.3 percent of their 1999 budget.

While the percentage increase may not seem like much, the dollar impact could be substantial for some facilities. Limited budgets may force cutbacks in other areas. For example, the average starting worker earns $7.78 per hour. Working a 40-hour week, the average starting employee earns just over $16,000 per year. If paper costs were increased by nearly $10,000, a facility may have to cut back by nearly one employee.

Facilities with higher than average paper expenses could be hardest hit. For example, hospitals and nursing homes had the highest average per-square-foot expenditures on paper products in the 1999 survey, near or equal to twice the national average. Based on 1999 figures of average expenses and average square footage, increasing the price of paper by 28 percent would increase a hospitals paper expenses by nearly 5 cents per square foot.

The smallest facilities may also have the toughest time buying in bulk in an effort to decrease their costs. Small facilities may not have the storage space for the volume of purchases required for big price breaks.

In addition, hospitals and nursing homes offer the lowest average starting wage for cleaning workers. An increase in the price of their paper products could result in the elimination of close to 2 full-time employee positions. That is substantial, when you consider that the smallest facilities also tend to have the smallest cleaning staffs.

Facilities that cannot afford to cutback on personnel may have to find other ways of cutting costs. Some facilities may forego buying new equipment, which could ultimately affect productivity.

The effect of the rising cost of pulp may not be immediately seen by facility managers.

Distributors will likely phase in price increase in an effort to give customers time to adjust and keep customers happy. In the meantime, facility managers should explore the options available to them for dealing with price increases. Managers may need to request more money in the cleaning budget next year or perhaps make plans to clean the save amount of space with fewer employees in order to pay for the price increases.

From the March 2000 edition of Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine

Research

SARS Virus Survives Outside Body For Days, Scientists Say
By Rob Stein

The Herald (Sunday, May 4, 2003)

The SARS virus can survive on common surfaces at room temperature for hours or even days, which could explain how people can catch the deadly lung infection without face-to-face contact with a sick person., scientists have found.

New laboratory studies, being released today, have produced the first scientific data on how long the SARS virus can live in various places and conditions, demonstrating for the first time that the microbe can linger outside an infected person’s body.

One study showed the virus survived for at least 24 hours on a plastic surface at room temperature, which suggests it might be possible to become infected from touching a tabletop, doorknob or other object [such as a toilet seat]. Another found the microbe remained viable for as long as four days in human waste, a crucial finding that could clarify how the virus can spread through apartment buildings, hospitals and other facilities.

OUTLASTED SOAP
German scientists found that a common detergent failed to kill the virus, indicating that some efforts to sterilize contaminated areas may be ineffective.

An experiment conducted in Japan concluded that the virus could live for extended periods in the cold, suggesting it could survive the winter.

The long-awaited findings should be crucial for containing the epidemic, and they could solve one of the most important mysteries about the new disease: how the virus spreads without direct exposure to infected individuals. “It’s the first time we have hard data on the survival of the virus. Before, we were just speculating,” Klaus Stohr, the World Health Organization’s top SARS scientist, said Saturday.

“There has been a lot of speculation that the touching of objects could be involved. This shows that transmission by contaminated hands or contaminated objects in the environment can play a role.”

WILL HELP PLAN
In addition, the findings will help researchers develop better tests for the virus and possible treatments. Now that they know what temperatures kill the virus, researchers can purify serum from sick people to use in calibrating tests and possibly to give other patients as a therapy. Serum contains antibodies that are measured by tests. In addition, the antibodies could work as treatment if they can neutralize the virus.

The findings were produced by laboratories in Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and Beijing that are part of a scientific network organized by WHO to study the previously unknown virus. The findings were compiled and analyzed over the past few days and were to be posted on WHO’s website today so public health workers aroudn the world can begin using them to keep the virus from spreading, said Stohr, who described the findings in a telephone interview.

Stohr emphasized that by far, the primary mode of transmission was through droplets that spray out when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Research

AIDS and TOILET SEATS
Edited by W.A. “John” Johnson

In the October 1987 First AIDS report (Box 2396, Vancouver, WA 98558, $69), there appear excerpts from a publication of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It’s titled Recommendations for Prevention of HIV Transmission in Health-Care Settings, and was published 8/21/87. The booklet recommended infection-control procedures and addressed specific practices in health-care and related fields.

All that follows is from First AIDS Report:
Under the subheading “Precautions for Laboratories,” the CDC says “Blood and other body fluids from all patients should be considered infective.” And that “laboratory work surfaces should be decontaminated with an appropriate chemical germicide after spill of blood or other body fluids...” (Emphasis added.)

We don’t want to belabor the point, but over and over again throughout the entirety of the booklet you find this very cautious language. Although the AIDS virus is considered to be primarily a blood borne virus, it has been found in all other body fluids: tears, sweat, saliva, urine, semen, mucous, etc. It has also been found in human feces. Therefore, the CDC is telling health-care professionals to be extremely careful with body fluids as well as blood. This only makes sense.

Now, here’s the kicker: from the Surgeon General’s Report on down, the literature that is going out for public consumption says something quite different. You can look just about anywhere and the official word coming down to us can be summed up, in effect, by saying that you absolutely, positively, cannot get AIDS from toilet seats.

What almost goes without saying is that toilet seats often have body fluids on them. All kinds of body fluids: urine, saliva, sweat, sometimes blood and sometimes semen. And don’t forget human feces.

This has caused us to come to a rather astounding conclusion. See if you can follow our logic:
If these body fluids are found on hard surfaces in a health-care environment, then it is recommended that something just short of a blowtorch be used to disinfect the surface in order to prevent the possible transmission of the AIDS virus.

However, if these same body fluids are found on a particular kind of hard surface known as a toilet seat, then there is no need to worry about the possible transmission of the AIDS virus. So here’s the inescapable conclusion: toilet seats must have some sort of medical, almost magical quality. Evidently, they somehow have the capacity to kill all sorts of disease-causing viruses.

Hopefully, we’ve made our point. We think that we’ve adequately demonstrated that our US Public Health Service has been talking out of both sides of its mouth.

We’re NOT saying you can, in fact, get AIDS from toilet seats. All we’re saying is that it seems just a little inconsistent to treat the matter in such a commendable, sober, cautious way when it comes to the health-care setting and then, when it comes to the general public, to treat the matter as though there were absolutely no potential dangers at all. Why is it that the general public is handled in such a different matter?

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!

Research

Life On A Toilet Seat
Dangerous Bacteria

The following are five pathogenic bacteria families found most frequently on the toilet seats of public restrooms; the percentage of seats they were found on and the possible diseases resulting from exposure:

• 1. Micrococacceae - 97% - Boils/Pimples, Pus infections
• 2. Coryneform - 81% Diphtheria, Hepatitis
• 3. Streptococcaceae - 39% - Epidemic sore throat, Bronchial pneumonia
• 4. Pseudomonadaceae - 22% - Urinary tract infections, Blood poisoning
• 5. Enterobacteriaceae - 19% - Kidney infections, Typhoid/Paratyphoid fever, Salmonella, Shigellosis

In addition, Trichomanas Ptotozoa, which causes an infection of the lower genital area can be carried in a drop of urine and, if deposited on a toilet seat, will survive for up to 45 minutes.

Herpes
Studies on the transmission of the Herpes virus conducted by Dr. Trudy Larson and Dr. Yvonne Bryson at the U.C.L.A. School of Medicine, determined that a secretion from an open Herpes sore on the thigh or buttocks of a toilet seat user can be spread onto a toilet seat and survive up to four hours. The next toilet user could contract the virus through a break in the skin, which comes in contact with the seat.

The following are other pertinent facts on the presence of the Herpes virus in the American population:

• 20 million Americans have incurable genital Herpes.
• The Herpes virus, resulting in cold sores, infects 90% of humans.
• 1 in 10 Americans have Herpes.

Research

How Safe Are Public Toilets?
by Deborah Kay

Would you rather hold it in than use a public rest room? You’re not alone. 60% of Americans refuse to sit when they use a public toilet. Is this good, clean sense-or potty paranoia?

Rest Room Rituals
Robin - 34, stay-at-home mom
Toilet Tactic: “Instead of washing my hands, I use anti-bacterial hand sanitizer that I always carry in my purse.”
Reality Check: Faucet handles in public rest rooms can hold up to 50,000 germs per square inch, but a thorough hand-washing with plain soap will remove up to 95% of bacteria and viruses-the same as using antibacterial soap or sanitizer. Avoid wet bar soap, though; stagnant water can harbor bacteria. (If faced with a soapy bar, rinse it under water for 30 seconds.)

Amy - 30, art director
Toilet Tactic: “I try not to touch anything. I kick open the stall door with my foot and flush with it, too.”
Reality Check: Not touching anything is wise, since you can pick up cold, flu, and intestinal viruses from contaminated surfaces. But you can safely use your hands as long as you use a wad of toilet paper as a barrier against handles, lids and tampon bins (the germiest place in the bathroom-thanks to people’s hands touching them, not menstrual blood).

Katrina - 32, corporate media-relations director
Toilet Tactic: “I’m always totally freaked out that I might catch something from the seat, so I keep seat covers in my car.”
Reality Check: Even if you sit on a toilet seat right after someone with a sexually transmitted disease has, it’s practically impossible to get infected, says Phillip Tierno, Ph.D., author of The Secret Life of Germs. Urine itself is sterile, so you’re just as safe drying a wet seat with tissue as you are sitting on a paper liner.

Joy - 28, music consultant
Toilet Tactic: “I’ll only use a stall that’s completely free of remnants. Even a stray hair on the toilet seat makes me go to the next one.”
Reality Check: Choose the first stall in the row. Studies show they get the least use, so they’re the cleanest-and the most likely to have toilet paper. Otherwise, check the men’s room. They’ve been shown to harbor fewer bacteria than women’s rest rooms (there’s less kiddie traffic). If it’s empty, go for it.

How to Make a Clean Getaway

• Use the right roll: Instead of using an unwrapped roll, use toilet paper from within the dispenser-it hasn’t been exposed to as many germs.
• Lower the seat lid before flushing: Toilets can spray fecal-infected water into the air if you leave the top up. No lid? “Flush and run,” says Dr. Tierno.
• Lather up: Scrub your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds-any less time and you’re not getting rid of germs. Rinse, then repeat.
• Towel off: Paper towels from an enclosed holder are best. Pass on air dryers-they blow the room’s germy air right onto your hands.

To Squat or Not?
Who hasn’t hovered over a seat to pee? Problem is since the position isn’t really relaxing, your bladder may not empty completely. The residual urine can breed bacteria, leading to a urinarytract infection. The habit can also cause incontinence later in life. Bottom line: squatting once or twice a week won’t lead to problems, but more can.

Research

Public Restrooms Frighten Users
Edited by W.A. “John” Johnson

ATLANTA--Nearly 30 percent of Americans avoid public restroooms out of fear of germs, according to a poll by tissue and towel giant.  (NYSE:GP)

The survey also found that 40 percent of those who do use public restrooms, such as those in gas stations, flush with their feet as opposed to their hands.

Another 20 percent use towels to shield their hands from the objects and a full 60 percent of respondents say they don’t touch a thing in public bathrooms. Those respondents say they squat over toilets instead of sit and simply don’t touch any objects in the bathrooms.

Private bathrooms also raise germ fears, the survey uncovered. More than four out of every five respondents say they are concerned about germs in private and public bathrooms.

The survey results should underscore the necessity for keeping bathrooms clean since a clean bathroom will give a good perception of your business or institution.

Content Copyright 2001 National Trade Publications Inc.

Research

Kimberly-Clark Pushes “No-Touch” Bathrooms

December 2000: ROSWELL, GA--Cleaning service providers don’t need to be told how important their work is. In case a client or potential client doesn’t know, ask them this: “The average office building tenant spends more than three workdays a year in the restroom. Do you know how they spend the rest of their time?”

Towel-and-tissue producer Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE:KMB) is dispensing information on avoiding germs--and telling consumers to look for bathrooms that utilize “no-touch” systems as a way to avoid contact with germs.

The company’s Away from Home division is making the following suggestions:
Look for enclosed toilet paper systems that let you touch only the product you need, reducing the potential for cross-contamination. Toilet paper in an enclosed system is also protected from dirt and moisture.

If you have a choice, pick a restroom with no-touch faucets and toilet flushing devices. That way you can use the restroom without touching a lot of handles or levers that may harbor germs.

No-touch paper towel and no-touch soap systems offer the same benefits when washing hands.

Shut the faucet with a paper towel after washing your hands and also use it to open the door handle before throwing it away.

Try not to touch bathroom surfaces after you have washed your hands since germs can be spread to others via restroom fixtures, surfaces, faucets and product dispensers.

Kimberly-Clark is also urging people to wash hands thoroughly.

The company offers germ protection information at its Skin Wellness Institute website

Research

Micro-organisms in Public Washrooms
By Dr. Charles Gerba

The data on public washrooms contamination shows how often and how easily specific high-contact washroom surfaces can be contaminated.

Although Americans tend to pride themselves on their personal hygiene and clean toilet facilities, there has been remarkably little research into hygiene practices or microbial contamination of public washrooms. Using recent advances in microbiology, we now have more efficient tools for tracing, documenting, and identifying the presence of microorganisms in the washroom. Our research has focused on a bacterial sampling of public washrooms to enable us to develop an understanding of the washroom sites that pose the greatest risk of contamination to patrons and employees.

Research indicates that as many as 50 percent of all Americans do not wash their hands before leaving the washroom, thereby increasing the risk of contaminating themselves and others. Microorganisms-bacteria viruses, and parasites-can enter the body easily through hand-to-mouth or hand-to-food contact. This is of critical importance to food handlers, food service patrons, and hospital employees and patients because these germs, especially coliform bacteria, are usually indicators of fecal contamination, such as E. coli.

Even when the bathroom looks clean, it may not be so from the standpoint of microbial contamination. In a recent study, we found, for example that 15 percent of the toilet seats in quick-serve restaurant wash-rooms in the Tucson area were contaminated with coliform bacteria.

Although Americans do not appear to suffer wide-spread epidemics of infection, 9,000 people in this country die of bacterial food poisoning each year. Infectious diseases can be spread at a lower level of microbial contamination than was previously thought. What most people call ”stomach flu” is likely to be a mild food poisoning, usually from a common bacterium like salmonella or staphylococcus. And a likely route of transmission is in the washroom-everything from the toilet paper dispenser to the hot water tap.

While anyone can get sick from this kind of contamination, up to 25 percent of the population is at heightened risk of illness and even death. The following groups are particularly susceptible because of compromised or immature immune systems:

• Elderly patients
• Immunocompromised patients
• Cancer chemotherapy patients
• Pregnant women
• Young children
• People with diabetes

Because the dangers of microbial contamination were not well documented until now, the general public, while “germ conscious,” is not well educated about the subject.